East Central Reporter

Casey Westfield Community Unit School District C-4 Board of Education met May 19.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

1) Roll call at 7:00 pm.

Members present were: Tracy Gelb, Erin Fain, Becky Clement, Shane Todd, Jason Sharp, Mike Fouty, and Lisa Huddlestun. Administrators present: Mike Shackelford, Jim Sullivan, Kacie Rhoads, Dalton McFarland, and Audra Taylor.

2) Recognize visitors.

Visitors present were: Jennifer Harris, Erica Robinson, and Lisa Sackrider. 3) Act upon approval of the following consent agenda items:

a) Minutes of the organizational meeting of May 5, 2025.

b) Destruction of closed session records 18 months and older as authorized by Board Policy 220 and 220-E1,

c) Current invoices for payment and review of the financial and budgetary reports,

d) Resolution amending intergovernmental agreement with Eastern Illinois Education For Employment System 340,

e) A Memorandum of Understanding with the Regional Office of Education #11 f) IASB membership for the 2025-2026 school year,

g) Final FY25 school calendar

h) Accept a proposal from the District’s Architect, Green and Associates, to conduct the upcoming ISBE required 10-year Health/Life Safety Survey.

i) Conduct first reading of PRESS Board policy updates.

j) Renew membership in the LaSalle County Purchasing Cooperative for the 2025-26 school year.

Motion by Sharp, seconded by Todd to approve the Consent Agenda. Upon roll call, members voting yea were: Huddlestun, Fouty, Clement, Fain, Gelb, Todd and Sharp. The President declared the motion carried.

4) Act upon the approval to post the FY 2025 Amended Budget for public display beginning May 20, 2025 and set a public hearing for the FY 2025 Amended Budget for June 23, 2025 at 7:00 pm

Motion by Clement, seconded by Gelb to approve the posting and display of the tentative amended FY 25 budget. Upon roll call, members voting yea were: Fain, Gelb, Todd, Sharp, Huddelstun, Fouty, and Clement. The President declared the motion carried.

5) Act upon the approval of the 2025 E-Rate Networking Project proposal from Quality Networking Solutions at a cost to the District not to exceed $36,800.

Mr. Shackelford reported that the project will consist of a complete network upgrade for the Jr/Sr HS and Roosevelt at a total cost of $122,618.13. The project was approved at a federal E-Rate funding level of 70% or $85,832. This would require a District match of 30% or $36,786.

Motion by Sharp, seconded by Huddlestun to approve the project. Upon roll call, members voting yea were: Fouty, Clement, Fain, Gelb, Todd, Sharp, and Huddlestun. The President declared the motion carried.

6) Act upon the approval of a proposal from Daktronics to replace the football scoreboard at a cost of $39,655.00, including installation.

Mr. Shackelford reported that the football scoreboard is scheduled to be replaced in 2026, but we experienced significant problems with it last fall and were able to limp through the football season with it. The issue is the coax cables that connect the different sections of the board are aged and are losing connection, causing parts of the scoreboard to go dark.

Motion by Todd, seconded by Fouty to replace the scoreboard. Upon roll call, members voting yea were: Clement, Fain, Gelb, Todd, Sharp, Huddlestun, and Fouty. The President declared the motion carried.

6) Administrator Reports

Monroe Principal, Kacie Rhoads reported that FFA Petting Zoo was a huge hit! Thanks to Mr. Bennett and the FFA students. The 5th and 6th grade choir/band concert and awards ceremony was held on May 16th. We had a full house. The students gave a wonderful performance. We are celebrating the end of the school year with “Foam Frenzy”. PTO is sponsoring the Foam Homies! The students are so excited! Hoping for good weather! The 5th graders have been working hard to learn about engineering principles! Using the 5E model, students built and modified catapults last week to launch marshmallows across the room! The “Strong Girls” program wrapped up their sixth session. It was a huge success. Mrs. Huffman and Mrs. Littlejohn are making a huge difference here at Monroe

Jr/Sr HS Principal, Jim Sullivan, reported that since the Special Olympics was cancelled due to weather, Mrs. Tharp put on a Special Olympics of our own for her students and their families on Monday at the high school!! Students were awarded 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place medals for the top 3 winners of each race and field event. Eighth Grade Science competed in their "Marble Race," where they built runs to slow the marble's vertical drop with recycled material. HS ELA students had the opportunity to listen to decorated Vietnam veteran, Fred Downs, Jr., speak about his time in the war and life lessons. Mr. Downs stepped on a "Bouncing Betty" land mine, a landmine that explodes waist high, at the age of 23. He lost his left arm and had his leg and other parts of his body amputated. Mr. Downs relayed a motto to students: "It was a bad day when I stepped on a land mine, but it didn't cause me to have a bad life." Students and staff were engaged in his lessons on leadership and "never being afraid to make decisions." He talked of his mistakes and failures, but always pushed through when life got tough. Fred Downs retired from the Veterans Administration as the Senior Executive Service VHA Chief Procurement and Logistics Officer in Washington, D.C. He was decorated with the Silver Star, Bronze Star with “V” device for Valor, the Vietnam Gold Cross of Gallantry, the Combat Infantryman’s Badge, and four Purple Hearts. Mr. Downs is the author of three critically acclaimed books: The Killing Zone: My Life in the Vietnam War, Aftermath: A Soldier’s Return from Vietnam, and No Longer Enemies, Not Yet Friends. The Lady Warriors Track team placed 6th out of 16 teams at the sectional on Thursday night. Several PRs were run, and there were many outstanding performances. Advancing to the State Track meet next week will be Audrey Goble in the 100m hurdles, Kaitlyn McKinney in the 400m run, Kayla Clark in the 3200m run, and the 4x800m relay team of Julia Eckerty, Adriana Hernandez, Ezzy Herrera, and Kaitlyn McKinney. The Student Council blood drive was held on Wednesday, April 26th. We had a goal of 22 pints and reached 41 pints! The nurses commented on how well-behaved our students were and how beautiful our old gym was.

Superintendent Mike Shackelford reported the administration and maintenance director Andy Cox met with Christian Brown, Engineer from GRP/Wegman, to establish our plan and timeline for the upcoming work at each building. GRP completed the HVAC work in the 1972 addition of Monroe over Easter Break, they plan to hit the ground running after Memorial Day. A couple of things to note: Both cafeterias/kitchens will be shut down for asbestos abatement from June 2-17. The Ag/Industrial Arts Building will be without power most of the summer. We will be switching from a 1 phase service to an updated 3 phase service, which will include a new transformer, a new service box that will be set outside instead of in the Ag Shop, and new breaker boxes in the Ag and IA shops. A new dust collection system will be installed in the Industrial Arts shop the first part of June. The roofing should go quickly, and the HVAC in the HS Gym and on the 2000 and 1994 wings of Monroe will follow once those are complete. He received a letter from Simple Blessings director, Leslie Duniphan. Simple Blessings is updating its safety plan and has requested to use the gym lobby area at Monroe as an emergency shelter in the event of tornado, fire, or other natural and unnatural disasters. The intent would be to only use Monroe until Heartland Nursing Center can bring a bus to pick them up. The request will be sent to the Board’s attorney, who will draft an agreement which will be presented to the Board for approval.

7) Addendum

8) Act upon approval to adjourn to closed session under c1 (employment), and c21 (discussion closed meeting minutes) of section 5 ILCS 120/1 et seq. of the Illinois Open Meetings Act.

Motion by Fouty, seconded by Todd to adjourn to closed session. Upon roll call, members voting yea were: Clement, Fain, Gelb, Todd, Sharp, Huddlestun, and Fouty. The President declared the motion carried at 7:25 pm.

9) Act upon approval to reconvene to regular session.

Motion by Sharp, seconded by Fouty to return to regular session. Upon roll call, members voting yea were: Huddlestun, Fouty, Clement, Fain, Gelb, Todd, and Sharp. The President declared the motion carried at 8:20 pm.

10) Act upon employment recommendations.

The Board accepted an irrevocable notice of retirement from Virginia Burchfield effective June 30, 2029; accepted resignations from Josh Roberts as PE/Health/Driver Ed teacher and Jr. High Athletic Director effective at the end of the 2024-25 school year; Lisa Sackrider as Kindergarten teacher effective at the end of the 2024-25 school year; Ivy Schmidt as District Music/Choir Instructor effective at the end of the 2024-25 school year; Logan Stutesman as Title I Interventionist at Monroe effective at the end of the 2024-25 school year; Dakota Strange as Title I Interventionist at the Jr/Sr HS effective at the end of the 2024-25 school year; Tony Davidson as 2-hour Cafeteria Aide at Monroe effective May 7, 2025.

The Board acted to approve the reassignment of Ryan High from HS Physical Education teacher to HS Health and Driver Education teacher and District Athletic Director for the 2025-26 school year; to approve the reassignment of Tanya Duniphan from Elementary Special Education teacher to Pre-K Special Education teacher at Monroe for the 2025-26 school year; to approve the reassignment of Lara Athey from Classroom Aide to Title I Interventionist at Monroe Elementary for the 2025-26 school year; to employ Dakota Strange as Jr/Sr HS Physical Education teacher for the 2025-26 school year; to employ Chelsey Cox as head coach for HS Girls’ Basketball for the 2025-26 school year; to employ Megan Gallagher as Kindergarten teacher at Monroe Elementary for the 2025-26 school year.

Addendum

Mr. Shackelford requested meetings of the Building and Grounds Committee and the Budget and Finance Committee. The Building and Grounds meeting is set for June 3 at 3:00 pm and the Budget and Finance meeting is scheduled for June 16 at 5:00

Act upon approval to adjourn at _______ pm.

Motion by Todd, seconded by Fouty to adjourn the meeting. Upon roll call, members voting yea were: Sharp, Huddlestun, Fouty, Clement, Fain, Gelb, and Todd. The President declared the meeting adjourned at 8:29 pm.

https://core-docs.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/documents/asset/uploaded_file/1373/Casey_Westfield/5667723/Tentative_Minutes_May_19__2025.pdf